Sale of Maroc Telecom Stake, Activision Payout Would Pave Way for Shift Into Media Company

PARIS—After a year of setbacks, French conglomerate Vivendi SA is nearing a pair of milestones in its effort to pay down towering debt and refashion itself as a smaller—and more handsomely valued—media company.

At a board meeting Monday, Vivendi is expected to discuss plans aimed at extracting more than $3 billion from its cash-rich Activision Blizzard Inc. videogame subsidiary through a special dividend, according to people familiar...